Wednesday, March 01, 2006

U.S. asked PA to help Kadima

From Ynet News 1/3/06 by Roee Nahmias ...

According to London-based Arabic-language daily al-Quds al-Arabi, U.S. Envoy Welch asked leader Abbas to postpone formation of Hamas-led government ... until after the March 28 general elections in Israel for fears that the Islamic group’s effective control of Palestinian affairs might weaken Kadima’s showing in the poll.

...Palestinian sources told the newspaper that the Bush administration believes Hamas’ presence at the helm will boost the showing of “the Israeli extreme right” at the polls. Washington is especially concerned that Likud’s victory in the elections will hinder its efforts to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The source said Washington prefers a Kadima win.

The paper reported that the U.S. government has no immediate agenda to revive long-stalled peace talks and is postponing a more active role in the region till after the elections in Israel....

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